Sheltered From the Storm
by ohmycroft
Summary: On a stormy night, Aaron find out his son can't fall asleep. But instead of reading him a bedtime story, he tells him a better story - the story of him and Haley. Taken place somewhere in season 10, after Hotch's breakup from Beth. One-shot.


**A/N: hello there! This is my first attempt at a Criminal Minds only story, but definitely not the last. I love Hotch's relationship with Jack, and since we don't get NEARLY enough of that in the series, I decided to add another little one myself. Takes place somewhere in season 10, after Hotch and Beth broke up.**

 **Special thanks to Writer by Moonlight, my friend and Beta reader, that saved you the pain of broke grammar. Thank you so much!**

 **Hope you like it!**

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Hotch moved the curtain a bit, to see if the rain had stopped. He frowned as he saw that not only did it not stop, but it was only getting stronger and so was the wind. He moved from the window towards the kitchen to get himself something to drink before bed. A free night at home was a very rare occasion, and it would be a waste not to use it to get some rest and go to sleep early.

However, he stopped before he reached the kitchen when he saw his son standing in the living room's doorway.

"What is it, Jack?" he asked in concern. Jack rarely got out of bed once he got in; he was a heavy sleeper. It often turned out to be very useful, especially when he and Haley had wanted some time alone.

"I can't sleep," he said quietly.

Aaron walked to Jack and sat down on his knees in front of him.

"Because of the storm?"

His son nodded.

"Do you want to sleep with me tonight?"

He nodded again, this time more firmly. This was clearly the suggestion he'd wanted.  
"Alright, buddy, let's go," the father said, and Jack hurried to his bedroom.

Hotch walked there slowly, and wondered if there was something else that was keeping Jack up except for the rain and thunder. It'd been a long while since they had last talked about his mother and Hotch had a feeling it might have something to do with that.

When he entered the bedroom, Jack was already in bed, fully covered in the blankets, waiting for him. Aaron smiled a small smile and got into bed. For the shortest second he thought it was Haley lying there next to him, after waiting up for him until he got back from work. But he soon realized that his mind was playing tricks on him, and that it wasn't Haley and never will be.

But it was Jack. Jack was there because he had fought for him. And that's all that Haley would really care about.  
Aaron put his arm around his son, and the latter put his head on the former's chest, right above his heart.

"Have I ever told you about how Mom and I met?" Hotch heard himself asking.

"No."

"Well, it was in the end of my junior year. I was walking down the hall, and I accidentally walked into a theater club rehearsal. And I saw your mom… And I knew I was going to marry her," he said, almost forgetting Jack was there. "So you know what I did?"

"What did you do?" he asked, curious.

"I knew I had to see her, so I joined the theater club, and got into a pirate play as the worst fourth pirate in the history of pirates," Hotch told him with a small laugh.

Jack laughed as he pictured his father dressed as a pirate, and Hotch decided that the way Jack always shakes his head a bit when he laughs was one of his favourite things in the world. He smiled as an idea came up to his head.

"I have a surprise for you. Do you want to see it?"

Jack nodded excitedly.

"Okay, stay here and close your eyes. I'll be right back," he ordered him with a playful smile, and pulled himself from the bed.

He walked to the study, which was also used as a storing room for all of the boxes they never bothered to unpack – all of Haley's possessions, everything they couldn't actually use but could never throw away. Her wedding dress was in the first box; that was what always kept him from unpacking the boxes – every time he tried to bring himself to it, he saw the dress and thought about their wedding. The same box contained a picture album from it, and every single time Aaron found himself looking at the pictures with moist eyes.

He put the top box on the floor, and the second as well. He could see his school yearbook in it, and knew it was the right one. He took the yearbook, which was what he came for, but as he saw the rest of the box's content he changed his mind.

The pirate hat was there. It was covered with a thin layer of dust and was a bit raggedy, but other than that it looked just the same. He blew off the dust and put it on his head, thinking about the last time he had put it on. When Jack was only a baby, the team was just a group of co-workers and nothing more, and his relationship with Haley was at its prime. It seemed like such a long time ago, and it really was. So much has happened since then – so much death, so much life, happiness, sorrow, and fear; it was overwhelming sometimes. But he had his job to keep him sane, his team to keep him happy, and Jack to keep him going.

He headed back to his bedroom, and saw Jack lying on the bed with his hands on his eyes as he was ordered.

"You can look now," Aaron said with a joyful grin, and Jack opened his eyes.

His eyes widened in excitement – Jack had always loved pirates. "That's so cool! Can I put it on?"

"Sure, bud," his father said, and removed the hat from his head. He placed it on his son's, and looked at him in admiration. "That's it, you're an official pirate now," he announced.

"Arrrgghh!," Jack roared ecstatically. "I'm the strongest pirate in the world!"

Hotch laughed, and Jack poked his stomach.

"Are you challenging me to a tickling duel?" asked the former, and the latter laughed playfully and nodded.

"It's on," Aaron said, and began tickling his son, which of course, broke into loud, joyful laughter. Soon enough, Aaron found himself laughing as well. Jack tried to tickle him back, and even succeeded a bit. Haley had always laughed at him for being so sensitive to tickles, which was so unlike his personality.

The tickle 'duel' stopped a while after, when both their stomachs hurt from laughing. They lied next to each other in bed on their backs, Jack still with the pirate hat on.

"Can I keep the hat?" Jack asked shyly after a moment of silence.

"Of course you can," Hotch answered softly, "Do you want it for Halloween?"

"No."

"What do you want it for, then?"

"You said Mommy loved you when you were a pirate. I want her to love me too," he replied quietly.

Aaron immediately turned to look at Jack.

"Jack, look at me," he asked him, and his son did as he asked. "Mom loved you very much, more than anything, and she will always love you. Do you understand that?"

Jack nodded. "I miss Mommy," he said, and Hotch pulled him into a tight hug.

"I know, buddy."

"Do you miss her too?" Jack asked, his voice slightly muffled as his face was pressed against Hotch's shoulder.

Hotch hesitated for a moment.

"Yes, I do. More than anything," he admitted quietly. "But every time I think about her I think about how much she loved us, and how she would've wanted us to think about her and smile, not cry. It's okay to cry, and it's okay to be sad, as long as you remember that just because she's gone, it doesn't mean she's not with us anymore. We can still talk to her, and she will always listen to what you have to say. And so will I," he said, and moved Jack from him so he'd look at him. "I'll always listen to you, and I will always love you, more than anything else. Can you promise me to remember that?"

"I promise. I love you, Daddy," the young Hotchner said, and hugged his father.

"I love you too," he said, and fought against the tears that threatened to fall on his cheeks. "Do you want to go to sleep now?" he asked, and hoped he would say 'yes'.

Jack nodded, to Hotch's delight.

"Good."

Hotch tucked Jack in quickly and kissed his forehead, without bothering to remove the hat from his head. "Good night," he whispered, and left the bedroom, but not before he took the old yearbook with him.  
He went to the living room and slumped onto the sofa tiredly. He opened the school yearbook and put it in his lap. He turned pages until he found the page where Haley's picture was. She was so young then, both of them were, and yet even then he knew that she was the love of his life. He did love Beth, but when it became too hard to stay together they had split up, and he was fine with that. He could move on with his life and know he'd never see her again, because she wasn't Haley.

She would have been pleased with him, he knew, had she been alive. She would've been mad at him for going back to the BAU, but eventually, she would've understood and accepted it.

Maybe she would've have been proud.

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 **A/N: So that's it! I loved Beth, but I've always felt that in a way she was just Hotch's way to fill up the hole Haley has left in his heart.**

 **Please leave your opinion below! Did you like it? Did you hate it?**

 **Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this. Have a great day!**


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